Provocative “Underground Railroad Game” coming to Curious Theatre

A scene from a production of “Underground Railroad Game.” (Ben Arons Photography, provided by Curious Theatre)

Curious Theatre Company will cap its 20th anniversary season with the provocative “Underground Railroad Game.” The play, which won an OBIE Award in 2017 for Best New American Theatre Work, will be produced in Denver with the original cast and design June 14-July 1.

“It’s a great fit for us,” said Chip Walton, producing artistic director at Curious. “We’ve been talking to them for some time now, they were trying to put together a tour, we were a natural match content-wise.”

The tour so far includes a week at Ann Arbor, Mich., a short stint in Germany, a stop at Wooly Mammoth in Washington, D.C., then Denver.

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Curious is announcing 15 performances, with the possibility to add more should demand dictate.

Curious has been evolving a producing model that is “a little bit more nimble and flexible to respond to current events happening in our world as well as to specific projects that present themselves,” Walton said. That repositioning started with Robert Schenkkan’s “Building the Wall” after the 2016 elections; “Underground Railroad Game” continues the effort.

The piece is written and performed by Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R. Sheppard with the troupe Lightning Rod Special, and directed by Taibi Magar. The Ars Nova production has been called “fearlessly uninhibited” and “a time-traveling fever dream about American race relations.”

In announcing the addition, Curious warned the show is “not for the faint of heart,” tackling race, sex and power in an R-rated comedy.

Opening night, June 14, will serve as a fundraiser for Curious, with tickets at $100. Subsequent performances start at $30. Tickets go on sale Feb.12 at curioustheatre.org and at 303-623-0524.